Barbeque grilling is a very popular past time combining a social get together with a unique cooking experience. Historically, virtually all barbequing was conducted using charcoal or other solid fuel sources. More recently, gas grilling has gained in popularity because of its relative ease of use noting that gas is available instantaneously not requiring a liquid fire starter and charcoal prepping. Nevertheless, many of those who engage in outdoor grilling still prefer charcoal sources, as it is generally believed that charcoal adds to the flavor of the cooked product.
As noted, there are drawbacks in employing charcoal as a fuel for grilling. Charcoal burns hotter than alternative fuel sources and, as a consequence, uneven cooking and flame up due to greases, oils and similar flammable liquids is always a potential. It is also difficult to control the temperature of a charcoal fuel source noting that, initially, charcoal provides an inadequate source but when properly combusted, charcoal can generate impressively high temperatures.
Gas sources such as propane are available commercially. Propane is generally housed within a pressurized tank as a liquid and is fed directly to a burner using metering controls generally provided with most outdoor grills. As such, a gas fed grill operates much like a conventional stovetop providing the user with a clean and efficient cooking environment albeit one that does not offer the traditional grilling experience and flavor achievable only through the use of charcoal.
Recognizing the advantages available through the use of charcoal and propane gas, it has been suggested that a universal grill have the ability to switch between the two fuel sources depending upon the wishes of a user. Great care, however, must be exercised in doing so for one would not wish to continuously employ a gaseous fuel source when using charcoal. As a consequence, one wishing to shuttle between charcoal and propane would generally be encouraged to access the pressurized propane tank and physically close the valve sitting on top of the tank to manually disrupt gas flow, which would otherwise feed a burner. However, if one, through inadvertence, failed to close the pressurized tank when using charcoal, a dangerous situation could ensue where the combination of gas and charcoal could cause dangerous flare-ups and consequent significant injury to a user.
Furthermore, one would generally not wish to simply add charcoal to a propane burner element as the debris from the charcoal in terms of ash and unconsumed carbon would foul the burning element resulting in uneven and disrupted gas flow once a user was to convert from charcoal back to gas fired burners.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a grill capable of operating on either pressurized gas or charcoal and yet overcomes the disadvantages as described above.
These and further objects will be more readily apparent when considering the following disclosure and appended claims.